On the way to St. Justin's, Goren leaned his head back against the seat of the car. He was drained. As he told Eames, he had a lot of experience in communicating with the mentally ill, but that didn't mean it was easy. Dealing with those issues brought up memories and feelings he didn't want to deal with right now. There was nothing else he could do on this case until they talked to a priest, and his brain was persistently trying to engage in something, anything.

"So, what did Stabler have to say?" he asked Eames.

"Not much. Typical bureaucratic BS," she said cynically. " 'The FBI has the utmost respect for the NYPD. Washington wants to build a real working taskforce in New York'…blah, blah. We have heard it all before."

But not from such a sexy mouth, he thought lustfully.

Goren was intrigued by his immediate attraction to Stabler. While he found women compelling, he didn't often have such a strong, initial reaction.

Lately, his relationships with women had been fun, and sometimes passionate, but rarely did they have a big impact on him. He held the belief that he wanted a committed relationship, and maybe even a family, but his actions seemed to dispute it. When it came right down to it, no relationship had proven worth the sacrifices he was asked to make in order to keep the affair going. Not that the women weren't worth it, but he was fulfilled (at least that is what he told himself) with his job, and his many interests. At least for now.

He didn't realize his appeal to women. To get someone to talk, to figure out what makes them tick, (what gets them into, and pleases them in bed), well, it was a challenge he found hard to resist. The women on the receiving end of that pursuit found it hard to resist as well. He was naturally charming. Flirting was as mindless to him as breathing. These were things he didn't acknowledge consciously, because if he did, it might mean that he would have to face a fact that he would abhor—there was a lot of his father in him.

Since he was a young boy, he had known his father was a womanizer. He had made every conscious effort to avoid that behavior. He treated women with much more respect than he had ever been taught. He had long ago given up the type of sexual trists that filled him with self-loathing.

Yet now he often found himself enjoying the game of "pursuit and capture" and avoiding the deeper relationship. It was a subject he avoided thinking about too much. He found if he pursued women who were playful, confident, and very attached to their own lives, things went much smoother for everyone. Women like Stabler…

His mind replayed the meeting with Agent Stabler. He knew he wasn't imagining it- their initial eye contact and handshake lingered just slightly. Was it attraction, or competition he saw in that moment? Either one would be interesting…

"Did she say her first name was Regan?" he asked Eames.

"Yes, that's her name. Wasn't that also the name of the girl in the Exorcist?" she quipped.

He chuckled. "Yes, but its also an Irish name. Oh, and Regan… Regan, she, she was a character in Shakespeare. One of King Lear's evil daughters. Regan Stabler… that's definitely an Irish name."

"Did you know her brother is Elliot Stabler?"

"At SVU?"

"Yes."

"No, I didn't know that, but I thought she looked familiar. I see the family resemblance." Yes, he could see it now. She had lighter hair, probably highlighted, much softer, feminine features, and slightly darker eyes, but he could see them as siblings.

"Yeah, well appearance is the only DNA they have in common. She got the family genes for diplomacy. He is on the hotheaded side." Not that it was a bad thing. A few months ago, they had worked with SVU on a case. Elliot had reminded Alex of her dad, a hardworking, stubborn, old-school NYPD cop. She wondered what Elliot thought of his sister trying to schmooze the NYPD for the FBI.

Goren had gone back to thinking about her appearance. Tall, she must have been at least 5'8", and with heels, she was much taller than any woman he had been with recently. Long legs… ok, this had gone far enough for now. He was about to go into the church for goodness sake.

"Oh," Eames said as they walked into the church, "she wants to go through this case with us- to find out how we do things. Apparently she is doing some research as well…learning from the best, I think she said." Eames rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's a good sign. At least she isn't storming in here and trying to tell us what to do," he replied as they went through the door.